Road grader



I i tached.

- with the blade, such as in Patented 15, 119 25. I

- UNITED STATES rArENI- OFFICE.

. k g WILLIAM .A. cost, or INDIANAPOLIS, INDIAN Ass eNon To J. D.- ADAMS & oom- TA Y, A'corAnTNEEsHIr CONSISTING or RJE. ADAMS, w. 3. ADAMs, LEONA H. ADAMS, HELEN J; DAms;'R. E. ADAMS, w. .R. ADAMS, AN s. E. HENRY, TmIsTEEs; AND R; E. ADAMS AND w. R. ADAMS, ExEoUTpRs or .THE EsTATE or .I. D.

ADAMS, DECEASEI).

ROAD GRADER.

1 Application filed August 9, 1924; Serial No. 781,022.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known; that 1, WILLI M A. (lost, a

citizen of the, United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Mar'on and State of Indiana, have. invented anew and useful-Road Grader, of which the following is a specification. Y

It is the object of my invention to produce a spring counterbalance for the blade and blade-carrying parts of a road-grader, which counterbalance will be effective throughout a greater range of werticalmovement of the grader blade than previous counterbalances have been. A further object of my inven-. tion isv the support of the grader blade by means of .the spring counterbalance so that chattering is avoided when taking light/cuts road maintenance work. I

I accomplish the above objects by providing a road grader with two sprlngswhlchf actbetween the grader frame and the bladecarrying member,'and I provide one of such parts with means; for equalizing the tension The accompanying'drawing illustrates 8111-! bodiments of my invention in which the pivoted bar is mounted on the grader frame 2- Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing my invention as'applied to a road. grader; Fig. 2- is a detail. v ew. showing the method of attaching the spring to; the'lift angles of the grader draw-bar; Fig. 3 is a plan view of a modification of imy invention inwhioh the lower ends of the springs. are directly attached to the grader. mold-board; and Figgi .is a transverse section of a] grader embody? in the arrangement shown in Fig. 3.

yinv ention may beappliedto any road ader having a vframe and a vertically adustable. blade. The roadgrader shownhas a wheel-supportedmain frame 10, a: drawbar 11, a pivoted semi-circle 12 mounted on the under side of said draw-bar, and a moldboard 13 supported by said semi-circle. '.Lhe draw barl 11 is provided with transverse members or lift-an les 14, the ends of which v are connected by li t links 15 to the eccentric ends of rotatable lift-arms 16. The lift arms 16 may be rotated through. suitable gearing by the hand wheels l7.

Pivotally supported above the frame 10 by means of thelegs-20 andbolt 21 is a trans versely extending bar 22. r connected to each end of the bar 22is a coil spring 23 which extends downwardly from such-bar 22 and .at its lowerend is connected to some convenient point on the draw-bar such as to the lift angles 14.. The means by which the spr1ngs23 are attached to the draw-bar and the exact location of such attachment is not" apart of my invention, but by way of ex ample I have shown-the lower end of each spring 23 as being formed into an eye-which engages ahook 24 bolted against the lower side of the draw-bar lift. angles 14'near each end thereof. l In the modification of my invention illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, I attached the'upper ends of the springs" 23 to a pivoted bar 25,

vsimilarto the pivoted bar 22 of'Fi'g. 1, and I attach the lower ends of the springs 23 directly to the mold-board .13 instead of to the draw-bar lift angles 14. As the-mold-board is angularly adjustable about. a vertical axis, 5,

I prefer to mount the bar 25 so that it may swingabout substantially the same vertical axis when the angular adjustment of the mold-board is changed. To accomplish this, A I providea bearing 26 in which is pivotally mounted a yoke 27in such a position that its axis of pivotal mounting substantially coin cides with the axis about which the moldboard 13 is adjustable. The bar 25. is pivot-.- ally mounted in the yoke 27 by means of; the pin 28 which passes through the yoke and the bar. 6

lower edge of the mold board is a slight The springs 23 are madepf such r'o'portions-that the substantially counter alance 7 the weight 0 the mold board, semi-circle, draw-bar, and attached parts, when the.

distance above the ground. If the moldboard is lowered from this position 'at which the weig t of the movable parts is counterbalance by the springs, the lifting force exertedby the springs is greater than the wei In; of the. movable parts. As a result.

of t is, all-lost mot-ion existing between the hand wheel 17 and mold-board 13 is taken up by the springs whenever the blade is tance through which it is stretched thev smaller will be the proportionate variation in the force exerted by the spring as it is stretched. As it is desirable to keep the variation of the force exerted by the spring within as small a range as possible, long springs are desirable. Aside from the equalizing of the tensions of the two springs, my invention has an added advantage in that it has the effect of doubling the length of the spring; for if either hand wheel is rotated to raise or lower one side of the draw bar, the resultant spring'displacement is divided between the two springs, and thus the ratio of spring length to extension is increased and the variation in the force.

I and means for equalizing the tension of sald which the springs exert is lessened.

I claim as my invention 1. In a road grader having a frame and a vertically movable element which includes a mold-board; the combination of a transverse bar pivotally mounted on said frame and two springs acting between said movable element and said bar, said springs being attached to said bar on opposite sides of its axis of pivotal mounting.

2. In a road grader having a frame'and a vertically movable element which includes a mold-board; thecombination of a transverse bar pivotally mounted on said frame and a spring acting" between each end of said bar and said movable element.

3. In a road grader having-a frame and an element vertically movable beneath said frame; the combination of a transverse bar pivotally mounted above said frame and two tens on springs acting between said movable element and said bar, said springs a fmold-board; thecombination of two springs acting between said frame and said movable element and tending to counterbalance the weight of said movable element, andmeans for equalizing the stress on said two springs.- 5. In a road grader having a frame and a. vertically movable element whichincludes a mold-board; the combination of two tension'springs acting between said frame and said movable element and tending to counterbalance the weight of said movable element, and means for equalizing the tension of said two springs.

6. In a road grader having a main frame, wheels for supporting said main frame, and a vertically movableeleinent including a mold-board; thecombination of two tension sprin sacting between said frame and said mova le element and exerting on said a frame and a vertically movable element which includes movable element a force greater than the Wei sai mold-board is at or belo-w the level of the ground on which said wheels rest,

ment vertically adjustable relative to said frame, a bar pivoted to one of'said parts,

springsv attached to the ends of said bar and to the other of said. parts.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Indiana olis, Indiana, this 18th day of July, A. hundred and twenty-four.

WILLIAM A. oosT.

ht thereof when the cutting edge of 7 road grader having a frame and a blade-carrying ele' one thousand nine 

